Did you know that Adsense could fetch miserably low CPCs? Even promoting ClickBank’s products is not very easy, as you need to have enough organic traffic to be able to break even. However, CPA affiliate marketing is probably one of the best ways that an affiliate marketer can think of for generating good revenues.
Well, CPA stands for Cost Per Action, and each time a user clicks on the affiliate link, you get paid, though the user needs to complete the action. The ‘action’ need not necessarily be a purchase; it can be any of the following:
- A form that needs to be filled out
- Raising an estimate or quote
- Agreeing to sign up for a trial
- Purchasing any product
Why Should One Go For CPA?
There are two great reasons why you should go for CPA rather than go for Adsense or any other affiliate-marketing network:
Reach Very High Up On The Value Chain
To make a lot of money from your carefully designed website, you need to climb as high as you can up on the value chain. The value chain for any digital product like an eBook would be something like this:
- Cost of the eBook $40
- Product Owner gets $7
- Lead Generator gets $ 3.5 (CPA network gets $1.00)
- Affiliate Advertiser gets $2.00
- Site Owner or Adsense publisher gets $1.00
- Ad Network (Google) gets $0.32
The reason that the above figures do not add up to make the $40 price is that several clicks and leads remain just that and aren’t converted into solid sales.
You will also notice that the CPA is quite at the bottom of the chain when compared to the others like Adsense, banner ads, and CPC or CPM modules.
However, if you were to sell your product, whether digital or otherwise, you will be promoting affiliate products and CPA fetches good offers that leave quite at the top of the value chain. When a physical product is sold, the pie is shared with distributors, suppliers, and other intermediaries. No wonder then when an Amazon affiliate sells a vacuum cleaner for $2500, he or she gets just $100.
1. Structured Advertising
When you go for CPA, you will not have to sprinkle Adsense or banner advertisements all over your site, making it difficult even for you to recognize your page. CPA offers can be seamlessly structured in your site, and your website never loses its professional look, and always appears like a branded site, and still opting out of all the CPRs CPCs and CPMs and still standing to benefit from CPA.
2. Finding an offer
Based on your websites niche and current traffic, you need to find the best offer that will suit your site. However, with CPA networks a dime a dozen and each touting hundreds of offers, how do you choose the perfect offer for your niche site?
The answer is quite simple – use oDigger, which has 116,353 offers and 641 affiliate networks (currently) or OfferVault.com, the go-to source for affiliate marketers that has tons of lucrative offers listed, some offering up to 75% commission and a CPA of $25. Both these are goldmines of CPAs, and you find a collection of CPA offers from reputed networks. Searching for a niche product is quite easy.
If you type in “free trials” in the search field, you will find several offers popping up in the drop down you will get:
- Tails.com Dog Food – Free 2-week trial
- NitroMXS Muscle – 1 Click Upsell – Free trial US
- SkinOpulent– 1 Click Upsell Free trial US
- Pure Forskolin – Free trial – Mobile Optimized (FR)
- FilesFetcher – Free Trial – Music Download
- FilesFetcher – Free Trial – eBooks………and much more
You will also come across some common terms like:
XXX Only: You may use only a particular traffic source, for e.g. email or an organic search
Display: This will include text links and several types of banner ads
Lead: As the name suggests, this is a lead, which is very common in CPA marketing where the user parts with personal details like name, email, phone number, and address.
Email/Zip: This is also very common in CPA marketing where the users part with their email and zip code.
Incent: Short for incentive, it means that the users are willing to accept a freebie or download.
Pay-Per-Call: The affiliate marketer is entitled to a payment each time a user clicks on the telephone icon to make a call.
Download or Install: Each time a user downloads something or installs any software, the affiliate marketer gets paid.
Sale of Rev Share: This is probably the most attractive of all; you get a small share in every sale. This is worth checking out by clicking and finding what is on offer, and if you think it is attractive enough, just click on “landing page review” and you get to see what the users will view when they click on this link.
However, What Should One Look Out For In A Landing Page?
The primary requirement is that the landing page should not be cluttered and should look neat and professional. If it looks shoddy and unattractive, it will have a similar effect on the thousands of users visiting your site, and there will hardly be any conversions.
The landing page should not have too many fields squeezed in as it can confuse the user, the more the number of fields, the lower the conversion rate. However, more fields translate to more commissions, hence a balance needs to be struck. If people are intent on finding something, they will search until they find it.
What If You Don’t Find An Offer Suiting Your Niche?
Sometimes you may not be able to find the perfect offer that suits your niche. In such cases, you need to look out for CPA offers that suit your demography. If your site has targeted traffic that has more people who love gadgets and gaming, you should think of promoting Xbox or something related instead of going for a dating niche which may not find many takers.
It Is Better To Join A Network?
If you find an attractive offer, it is better to join the network that has put up the offer. Applying is pretty easy, and all you need to do is to click on the link you find on the offer page. You will notice a form popping up that will ask for the basic details like:
- Company/Name:
- Address:
- City:
- Country:
- State:
- Zip code:
- Phone:
It is important to give your contact phone number as you can expect to get a call from the company within 72 hours, at the latest. Most people don’t want to be called and want the application to be processed automatically without having to speak to anyone. However, talking to someone for a change seems like a good idea, nor is the idea of some minor paperwork too bothersome.
How Does One Get Accepted By A Network?
The CPA networks are there for the picking, and they don’t wish to make things too tough for prospective affiliates. All they need to verify is that yours is a legitimate business, and you are serious about sending good leads that have good conversion rates. Being upfront and transparent with all the information certainly, makes things a lot easier. Simply follow the following tips, and you should do fine:
- Take the initiative and call the network before someone from there can call you. This will distinguish you from the other shady affiliates who do not wish to be scrutinized. You show your seriousness and sincerity by taking the initiative to call and should score enough points by that gesture to be accepted immediately without any hassles.
- Make sure that your whois and your mailing address match. Most networks check to see if the whois address and mailing address match.
- Answer honestly – Most of the networks have a question regarding your internet experience, and if you don’t have any, it is better to say so.
Networks don’t expect you to be rocking as an affiliate, because if so why would you be looking for a new network? All you need to have is tons of enthusiasm and is eager to go, and things should take care of themselves.
Designing Of Site With CPA In Mind
If you have not designed your site already, you need to make sure that you can integrate the CPA offer into your site. If you have already designed you site it does not matter, you can tweak it a bit to suit CPA. Try to integrate all the ads to make them look more natural, instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. When you have a well-integrated site with ads in place, you can expect users to start clicking from day one. Try to avoid banner advertising if you can, because sometimes it is so irritating that it can increase your bounce rate alarmingly.
Some Other Valuable CPA Tips
You will be assigned an affiliate manager as he or she is the direct inside source. Being nice to your affiliate manager pays in the end as they are the people who update you about the new offers and make sure your account is maintained properly.
When you are in the good books of your affiliate manager, you can get commission bumps. You need to be watchful about what the competitor networks are up to and keep your affiliate manager posted. If there is a similar offer that another network is running and pays higher commissions, you can point out the discrepancy and rest assured your affiliate manager will take it up with your network and see that you get your fair share.
Keep Away From The Shady Networks
CPA does have a darker side to it with shady networks that are out to make a fast buck, and if they rip off people in the process, they are least bothered. Before you can sign up, it makes sense to check the reviews on oDigger. You can do this by clicking on the “network reviews” tab and look for the network you are investigating. If there are too many bad reviews with people complaining about not being paid, keep off such networks.
On the flip side, a network may have a thousand valid reasons for withholding payment, like affiliates sending fake leads, etc. Hence, there may be certain genuine cases, but if the overall reviews are bad, it is better to avoid such networks, although they try to lure affiliates with promises of high commissions that are never paid anyway.
Some of the genuine networks that are worth checking out include MaxBounty and Pathera Interactive. Both these networks have thousands of offers, and their payouts are handsome too. Moreover, both the networks have friendly affiliate managers with whom it is rather easy to work. MaxBounty makes weekly payments while Pathera Interactive makes fortnightly payments.
If you think you are ready to take the plunge and start rocking, there is no better time than now. Here is a short recap on how to go about it:
- Find the best offer that suits your site’s demography. Next, check out the matching offers available on oDigger or OfferVault.com and find the perfect fit by searching with a keyword in the search box.
- Join the network if you think the offer is lucrative enough. Make sure you call them before they call you. Be upfront and honest when you talk.
- Designing your site or tweaking it to suit the CPA is very important as integrating the network into your site makes all the difference.
- Be friendly with your affiliate manager and he or she is the only inside source you are going to deal with on a daily basis. This way you can ensure that you get commission bumps. Keep checking other networks to learn what they are up to, and how much they pay affiliates.
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